Mathews eased in as Tolbert takes over

“It’s realizing I’m not going to come in and rush for 3,000 yards and six touchdowns a game,” Mathews said. “The reality is everyone is a pro. I’m not in college anymore. They’re really coming. It’s going to take a few games and some play to really get locked in and learn. Everything is kind of new. I just realized it, and I’m going with it.”

He said this after a day in which he scored his first NFL touchdown but didn’t start. The Chargers’ first-round draft pick had 55 yards on nine carries, just more than half as many carries and half as many yards as Mike Tolbert’s 16 and 100.

“I’m committed to Ryan being our starting back, and he showed why,” head coach Norv Turner said. “… The right thing today was to start with Michael. He was going good, and Ryan gave them a little changeup.”

Mathews’ turbo-boost 15-yard run around the edge to the end zone was something quarterback Philip Rivers assessed there weren’t too many backs in the league capable of. Among Mathews’ five fourth-quarter rushes was one for 20 yards in which he left the line of scrimmage like a fleeting memory.

“He’s (bleeping) fast,” left guard Kris Dielman said.

Literally but not figuratively.

The kid the Chargers moved up 16 spots to take with the 12th overall pick in April’s draft has 34 carries four games into the season. He has lost two fumbles and missed a game with a sprained ankle.

Mathews sure cut and sprinted Sunday like his ankle was fine, but the lingering effects of that injury and a fall in Thursday’s practice that required Mathews to wear a protective pad on his elbow were the primary reasons Turner gave for going with Tolbert.

The coach did allow, too, that he didn’t want Mathews to go in and have something bad (like another fumble) happen when forcing him in wasn’t necessary.

Turner said from the time Mathews was drafted that the Chargers’ myriad offensive weapons would be able to ease the rookie in.

Mathews has bought in.

“He’s a vet,” Mathews said of Tolbert. “Right now, I’m in a good situation to see how he runs, just watch everybody -- he and (Darren) Sproles, Jake (Hester) – and be in a position where I learn. That’s the thing – just getting more comfortable and one day I will be the main guy.”

Turner said he planned to use Mathews more against the Cardinals but ended up not having to. He sees Mathews having a lot of carries at some point this season and also Tolbert having “this type of day somewhere down the road too.”

So while the questions have begun regarding why the Chargers even needed to draft Mathews when they had Tolbert, perhaps a little perspective is needed.

“We’ve got veterans,” tight end Antonio Gates said. “He has a lot to learn. It doesn’t come overnight. There are things we know he can do and believe he can do. When it’s all said and done, he’s going to be one of those guys we’re talking about.”

Mathews watches Gates’ make catch after catch, so amazing and yet so routine. He marvels, as everyone does, at Gates’ talent. But Mathews knows, too, why those catches happen so routinely, why Gates is so open and the game comes so easily to him.

“It is my (third) game,” Mathews said. “I’ve still got a lot to learn. The more experience you get, the better you get. You can tell a guy like Gates, he’s awesome, all those catches like it’s nothing. It’s because he knows the game so well.

“And I think once I get some games under my belt and start feeling it like he does, it’s going to be something special. Until then, I’ve got great guys around me to help me along.”